Argosy, Vol. 147, No. 1 — page 120: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

' Rast PP , 2 slowly, slipped through : ain 10S wihont a sound. > are we now?” Mercer whispered tiently. ‘‘ Aren’t we there yet?” e gifl put a finger to her lips. “ Almost Oat ~ now.’ e steered straight for the house. Dire s no one in sight, either about the 2 i E er about those in its immediate it a A moment more and the boat slid h the building into semidarkness. a shut the power off and stood up. ‘loo of the house was just above her ‘In front of her, near the center of , she saw the side walls of an = nln some twenty feet square. s came down to the surface, mak- like a basement to the dwelling. oorvey, with a sliding door that ‘stood open, gave ingress. ‘I bt had now almost lost headway. nosed its bow into this doorway, and Bone of the pilings near at hand, to rest. , at a signal from her, climbed 7 to his feet, still holding the little Q ‘33 ay y cylinder in his hand. "Whe ’s that in there?” he whispered. deyor d the doorway, through which the ie hast projected, there was com- Lower room,” Anina whispered back. i ings in there. And boat landing, uilding t’s 5 Bo in and see.” cer eg toward the bow of the “Six feet or more of it was inside on v9 y. He made his way carefully th e bev, and found himself inside the the e dimness of this interior he could f t the outlines of things around. y was located at a corner of the ae lay a small open space "Seal one side a platform about ove the surface formed the floor | a lay moored to it. + opening to _-—-ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. BC vr ‘ ~_s ‘ “a F o* JF } = could hear plainly the voices of men in the - room above. Anina was beside him, “ They’re up there,” he whispered, point- ing. “ Let’s land and see if we can get up those stairs a ways and hear what they’re saying.” They stood a moment, undecided, and then from the silence and darkness about them they distinctly heard a low muffled sound. ‘‘ What’s that?” whispered Mercer, star- tled. “ Didn’t you hear that, Anina? There’s something over there by the bottom of the steps.” They listened, but only the murmur of the voices from above, and an occasional footstep, broke the stillness. “T tell you I heard something,” Mercer persisted. ‘‘ There’s something over there.” He rattled a bit of rope incautiously, as if to startle a rat from its hiding place. “ Let’s tie up, Anina.” They made the boat fast, but in such a way that they could cast it loose quickly. “ We might want to get out of here ina hurry,” Mercer whispered with a grin. ‘You never can tell, Anina.”’ He stood stock still. The sound near at hand was repeated. It was unmistakable this time—a low, stifled moan, Mercer stepped lightly out of the boat onto the platform. A few boxes, a coil of rope, and other odds and ends stood about. He felt his way forward among them to- ward the bottom of the steps He heard the moan again, and now he saw the outlines of a human figure lying against the farther wall. Anina was close behind him. “ There’s somebody over there,” whispered. ‘“ Hurt or sick, maybe.” They crept forward. It was a woman, bound hand and foot and gagged. Mercer bent over and tore the cloth from her face. In another pe od . Anina was upon her knees, sobbing se with her mother’s head in her lap. _ Sigs s They looped. the conse: Sar aaa ane chaffed her stiffened eu Sh e soon te = covered, ior shaaee a 1€ to he Me BEB BoeKs. com - ae) ‘fet >, - as ‘i L ro